We are instructed to think that progress is a straight line. Without any surprise, it is not. But I like to picture it with a direction nonetheless... upwards. So as it's not a straight line, I see it as a pulse, with its ups and downs, the ups usually being mild and the lows potentially dramatically sharp.
But still somehow going up.
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On the current and future challenges: I am mortified about what we did and are doing to the planet and horrified to witness the political tensions in Europe (not only the war, because Europe has seen Crimea, the Balkans, and war never stopped after 1945, but now, there are severe risks of expansion). Also, I do not believe in tech as a means to solve our problems, never did, never will.
So maybe my tiny optimistic pulse trending upwards is too candid and naive but at the moment, maybe blind with despair, I hold on to this idea.